Assurance Services

Climate Change and Sustainability Services

The growth of the Cleantech sector is evident from the sector’s resilience throughout the financial crisis and the fact that global investment in clean energy grew five-fold over the past seven years. The increasing realisation that both global organisations and national economies are significantly exposed to water, waste, energy and emissions is driving change in the board room and amongst policy-makers.

Moving from the current compliance-based approach to an approach where economic competitiveness, employment and exports are the central long-term objectives to a national cleantech strategy would position Ireland as a global leader in the sector. An integrated long-term vision and clear implementation plan for a resource-efficient, energy-secure and low-emission future, designed in partnership with both the private sector and the international investment community, would result in a remarkable change in society. Retrofitting buildings to reduce energy consumption, increasing renewable energy generation to enable exports, developing smart infrastructure technologies and expanding the domestic biofuel industry for the energy, agri-food and transport sectors are all areas with significant domestic benefit whilst creating capabilities for the global markets.

The Cleantech sector can drive economic recovery through job creation and growth and it also places future economic growth on a sustainable path by breaking the current dependence on importing fossil fuels by significantly reducing domestic national energy consumption and generating more indigenous and exportable renewable energy. Ireland already has a number of world-class companies operating in this sector, operating in every continent and across a wide range of technologies and services.

Ernst & Young has been a leading global financial advisor in the areas of energy, environment and sustainability for the past decade. The firm has advised on more than 10,000 MWs of renewable energy across Europe and is currently advising Governments, local authorities, corporations, SMEs, banks and investors around the world in the areas of sustainability, water, waste, renewable energy and energy efficiency. To better help you, our Climate Change and Sustainability Services are embedded across all our services, geographies and industries. Here in Ireland, Barry O'Flynn has been appointed as a Director in the Ernst & Young Environmental Finance and Cleantech team.